The Console Wars, or How Nintendo Failed its 1st Generation

nes-cartridge-clock

Nintendo, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Nin-ten-do: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Nin. Ten. Do.

In my lifetime, if there were a nostalgic image that could sum up pretty much all the good feelings and bad feelings about my childhood, it would be the original Nintendo Entertainment System. NES for short. Ninnie Ninnie Tennie Tennie Doey Doey to my friend John Martin from across the cul-de-sac.

I was the kind of kid who jumped Mario (from Super Mario Bros) with my entire body in real life. It brought me the greatest joy when I made it to level 8-1. The most anger when I couldn’t get past 1-4 in Kid Icarus. The most sadness when Final Fantasy 1 ended. The best sense of teamwork when we (bro and I) beat Crystalis. Yes, in those days there was nothing Nintendo did wrong except steal hours of my life away- but then again, I gave them willingly.

alley_way_gbc_screenshot3

I bought Gameboy, then Gameboy Color. I played Alleyway and Tetris constantly.

Sega Genesis came out, and since Super Nintendo hadn’t, we (my brother and I) got that. For a short time it was good. Games like Altered Beast, Sonic, Battletoads, and Streets of Rage 2 made it worthwhile. Finally Super Nintendo was released, and I could not wait to get my hands on the new system. I was die hard. I traded in one for the other, and was so pleased with the new console. Super Mario Kart was an addiction, and Final Fantasy III became my favorite game of all time. There was no stopping Nintendo.

sonic

In November of 1994 the ill-fated Sega Saturn joined the console market. I had nothing against Sega, and even though their console met failure, I wished them well on their next try- which would be many years later. My friend Chris Baily drew the cartoon on the left in seventh grade, and it illustrates the dying brand. A month or so later the Sony Playstation arrived. I didn’t know too much about it and didn’t care. I was in love with my Super Nintendo ~ smiles ear to ear.

Like every other aficionado, I was excited for the release of the Nintendo Ultra. Later the name was dropped for 64 which surprised me a little, because a silly bit-number was definitely not as cool sounding as Ultra. A few rumors started going around about the weird new controller, and even that didn’t sway me. The first scare I had was when the management made an announcement that Nintendo would become more family-friendly.

In the past many of the games for the brand were for general audiences, but I never got the sense that they were specifically designed for children. When the Nintendo 64 came out, I knew something had gone awry at HQ. Mario 64 was unbelievably good, but the cartoon ‘look’ had been given a childlike appeal. Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, and Killer Instinct were some of the only mature games out there. I longed for poor taste titles like Rush ‘n’ Attack. Instead Mario Party came out in droves, and cemented my disdain for these so called “party games”. I wish I had never heard the term. Sure, they were selling more to younger audiences, but the gamer audience was getting lost in the fray. What this console solidified was that Nintendos were bought solely for their 1st party games. Thank goodness for Mario Kart 64 and Super Smash Bros.

cloud

Then something terrible happened. An announcement was made by Squaresoft that they were going to make Final Fantasy VII for the Playstation. The first thought I had was, “What the Hell? How did I not play the other three?” But soon my frustration became chagrin. I didn’t own a Playstation at all.

I blamed Squaresoft. How was I supposed to know any better? I was still young, and I didn’t know that Nintendo made it hard for third party companies to build software for them. Sony made different sorts of deals with its clientele, and Squaresoft made a simple business decision. In my eyes, though, they had become complete traitors to ‘the Nintendo Cause’. I didn’t even know there was a cause like that until it was spoken, and then I had a consumer’s grudge.

When Final Fantasy VII hit stores it was praised by critics everywhere. A friend of mine had the game so I watched the first cinematic sequence. It was unlike any 3D game animation I had ever seen, and I was smitten. I wanted to play it so badly, but I didn’t want to defect from Nintendo.

The illustration on the right was also created by Chris Baily. The theory behind it was to give Cloud a little bit of the Simon Belmont arrogance from Captain N the Gamemaster. It serves to portray how, as a youth, little things like this can have such a bizarrely serious impact. More importantly, it displays a young consumerist mind at work.

Six months went by, and I finally concocted a plan with my fellow author here Jamie Antonisse. The only way to give Squaresoft the middle finger while still buying the console and game was by paying for it in exact change. I know this makes no sense at all, but we were young. Our understanding of the word ‘Ironic’ still came from Alanis Morissette. So we took all the change we had accrued in our piggy banks over the last five years, counted out the cost to the last penny, put it in a lunchbox, and brought it to Toys ‘R’ Us.

It really didn’t hit us until we made it to the cash register with a Playstation and Final Fantasy VII that the joke would be on the cashier. It was her third day on the job, and two bitter Nintendites dropped pounds of change onto the counter. She had no idea what to do but count out the change. Her manager laughed at her misfortune. Jamie and I looked at each other puzzled. What had we done? The middle finger was pointed directly at ourselves. There was no vindication in our purchase, and money was just money to Squaresoft.

A few years went by, and the Sega Dreamcast came out. This was Sega’s Alamo, now cornered by two giants with Microsoft entering the arena as well, it seemed almost inevitable that this once titan was destined to fall. The real unfortunate part in retrospect was that Sega had actually kept Nintendo honest. Sega had been the edgier brother ~ always trying to do something just a little more bizarre than their counterpart. This console epitomized what made Sega great all those years. Crazy Taxi and Jet Grind Radio bring back some of my fondest memories to this day. I still hear the echoes from the former- “Let’s go make some CRaaazzzY Money!”. Even though it officially left the market in 2001, software companies continued to develop for this system until 2006. The strangest part of its history came recently in 2009, when a surge of Dreamcast sales proved that dead consoles never really die.

Either way I continued on to buy the PS2 because I knew they were going to have all the great third party games including Grand Theft Auto III. Rockstar Games changed the landscape of adult gaming for good with this one, and broadened the growing chasm between Sony and Nintendo. Or maybe it was Nintendo’s fault. It was here that I started looking at Nintendo’s decisions, and really wondering why they had stopped trying to appeal to me.

mario

I picked up the Gameboy Advance. Tried out the PSP. I played through Advance Wars in a week. This was all well and good, but I wanted to sink my teeth into another console.

Meanwhile at Nintendo HQ the Gamecube was being readied for stores. Miyamoto was claiming such brilliance and innovation, it was hard not to be excited for the arrival of his console. Then I played Luigi’s Mansion. Saying I was underwhelmed is a massive understatement. This console was barely a reinvention of the 64, which lacked luster to begin with.

Usually when a console comes out later the graphics have been made to a better standard, but the Gamecube was missing that update. A big claim to fame was the moderate price, but if you bought into the party games you’d end up spending all your money on controllers anyways. The worst part was that for the first year and a half I didn’t like a single game I bought. It was pitiful, and it left me with a sense of emptiness. Chris’s art on the right serves to portray how Nintendo got fat and lazy.

Where were all the great first party games I had been assured? What was I supposed to do with Mario Sunshine other than spit water everywhere? Why was it all getting kiddier? Was it just my getting older that caused the divide with Nintendo or did they stop caring about me? Finally I got Super Smash Bros Melee, but it was too little too late. Gamecube marked Nintendo’s first real failure.

When Microsoft announced the XBOX I was completely against it. Like any purist a gigantic conglomerate jumping into my market was unwanted. Then I started playing Halo at a friend’s house, and it was fantastic. The graphics on the system were stunning, and I knew it was time to make the switch. I watched DVDs on my XBOX and PS2 happily. Why I couldn’t do that on my Gamecube was yet another nail in the coffin.

Time passed and the juggernauts readied themselves for the next match up. XBOX 360 came out first to what I thought was a soft launch. The graphics were really terrific, but the games weren’t up to par just yet. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was still high on my list of things to play. The staying power of the GTA series after it’s finished is pretty unbelievable when I sit down to think about it.

That entire year I was waiting for the big one. The inevitable release of the Nintendo Wii. From what everyone was saying at E3, this would shake the gaming universe forever. I couldn’t wait to play it. As per usual with Nintendo it was lacking in titles for its launch, but that didn’t stop me from buying it on on day one, lining up at 5am, in the cold, in The Bronx. Wii Sports was fun as hell. The gaming experience was cool and different. The kinks in this celebrated demo would be resolved when a REAL game came out for the system- was what I thought at the time. But as new things trickled out they all seemed to reinforce how limited the controller was. Games of skill felt more like games of chance. Boxing felt more like flailing. WarioWare was fun, intentionally ADD, and held my attention for two days exactly. The more games I played, the more they all felt like WarioWare. I longed for longevity in my gameplay. The Wii’s focus had completely moved on from me as a gamer. I ended up where most frustrated NinVets do, the Virtual Console. I could play all the old games I still loved, but I was aching for something fun and new. After a long wait Mario Galaxy came out. It’s hard not to love, but one game for an entire console? It’s just not right.

I had a choice ~ Buy the way overpriced Playstation 3 with a few games, or buy the cheaper XBOX 360 with tons of games. I went 360 and left the last vestiges of my Nin-Faith at the door. Wii proved that Nintendo had turned its back on me. The 360 on the other hand seemed to be tailored for me. I bought into a live membership, tons of games, the Live Arcade, and was never happier.

It’s hard to believe I’ll ever be an XBOXite. It’s harder to believe I lost my Nin-Faith. I grew up with them, and I suppose as is this case with friendships, we just grew apart. It’s hardest to believe the importance I gave these console wars my entire life, but that’s my story. From one gamer to another.

Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriaza

Juan Carlos directed two acclaimed films: "Know How" a musical written and acted by youth in foster care, and "Second Skin" a documentary on virtual worlds. He is Director of Social Action Impact & Public Affairs at Participant Media, and the Founder of White Roof Project, a nonprofit organization curbing climate change. @jcpe

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22 Responses

  1. Peter Brauer says:

    PC FTW. Isn’t the internet now the game of life? Also where is the Nintendo DS in there? CIV Revolutions on the DS kept me totally entertained for 3 weeks.

  2. Peter Brauer says:

    PC FTW. Isn’t the internet now the game of life? Also where is the Nintendo DS in there? CIV Revolutions on the DS kept me totally entertained for 3 weeks.

  3. Becca Thompson says:

    I don’t know, I love the Wii. It was the first console I bought since Super Nintendo. Maybe Nintendo realized that they needed something truly different in order to make it. With XBOX and PS3 out there in the market battling each other, Nintendo came out with something that appealed to a whole different market. They lost their chance to battle in the Microsoft/Sony playground and took a giant leap to stay alive. It’s crazy fun for different reasons.

  4. Becca Thompson says:

    I don’t know, I love the Wii. It was the first console I bought since Super Nintendo. Maybe Nintendo realized that they needed something truly different in order to make it. With XBOX and PS3 out there in the market battling each other, Nintendo came out with something that appealed to a whole different market. They lost their chance to battle in the Microsoft/Sony playground and took a giant leap to stay alive. It’s crazy fun for different reasons.

  5. E Pluribus Wiggum says:

    The best article on lost faith in a long, long time. I lived it. I was there.

    Damn you Nintendo- why have you forsaken us?!?!?

  6. E Pluribus Wiggum says:

    The best article on lost faith in a long, long time. I lived it. I was there.

    Damn you Nintendo- why have you forsaken us?!?!?

  7. Neal says:

    Terrible. On so many levels, terrible.

  8. Neal says:

    Terrible. On so many levels, terrible.

  9. HAHAHAHA your brother linked this @ the 1up.com messageboards. You should go check it out.

  10. HAHAHAHA your brother linked this @ the 1up.com messageboards. You should go check it out.

  11. Jonathan says:

    WoW Juany.

    You are so on the money. I still can’t get rid of my NES system, even though I don’t play it at all.

    It reminds me of my childhood, of all my lost battles and insane victories, of pulling all nighters with my best friends.

    Back then, I loved watching my friends play (being the wing man) as much as I loved playing. We were a team, fighting our way through a foreign land.

    That shit was off the hook and nothing will touch those first experiences until they make the fully immersive virtual reality games.

    RIP NES.

  12. Jonathan says:

    WoW Juany.

    You are so on the money. I still can’t get rid of my NES system, even though I don’t play it at all.

    It reminds me of my childhood, of all my lost battles and insane victories, of pulling all nighters with my best friends.

    Back then, I loved watching my friends play (being the wing man) as much as I loved playing. We were a team, fighting our way through a foreign land.

    That shit was off the hook and nothing will touch those first experiences until they make the fully immersive virtual reality games.

    RIP NES.

  13. Mike Wroblewski says:

    Hmmm…I think you’ve underestimated yourself and the dreams you may have insinuated for Nintendo. Firstly, Nintendo has lead a life of greatness and eternal fame. It seems that you might be expecting too much of this infinitely spectacular company. Let me clarify myself so as not to seem too overbearing:

    Nintendo may not be the first video game system, but the company itself has been around since the 17th century and definitely has more age than any of the systems listed in this post.

    I understand the frustration that arises from a gamer’s eye, living up to the honor and role model image of a company such as Nintendo’s, when new money-makers swoop in and steal a large chunk of the market. You have to realize though that Sega tried this and failed. Microsoft (I personally think XBOX is a sin, but more on that later) undoubtedly will fail due to their life-long feud with Apple. Sony is, in my opinion, Nintendo’s only true combatant.

    It was stated that Nintendo seemed fat and lazy. I definitely disagree. If they were fat and lazy why would they make any attempt to compete with the new models of gaming systems on the horizon? One must remember that Nintendo has more systems than any other brand, so their obvious struggle becomes apparent with the one (some argue more) system that flopped. Gamecube sucked; we all know that. The WII, although a different and seemingly less advanced system, is really innovative compared to the enhanced graphics and performance of the PS3 and XBOX 3Shitty. Also the DS is an amazingly awesome system that provides touch screen capabilities and some of the coolest interactive games that completely sets Nintendo apart from average button input gaming. Another thing I’d like to note; the N64. Dude, this system is easily amazing. The fact that an air filled cartridge based system could provide anything in good 3-d quality is sweet, not to mention that some of the world’s best games showed up on this system (Goldeneye, MarioKart64, Super Smash Bros.; all which you’ve listed). Goldeneye is still rated the second best first-person shooter of all time. As for the controller; I definitely think it was the most comfortable controller of all. I mean, you could play a game with one hand!!!!

    The Xbox controller easily has to be the most awkward.

    Let’s also take into account how much Nintendo has revolutionized the gaming industry! I mean, they destroyed Atari, but Atari still has some of the most classic, epic games ever. Nintendo has also set the standard for three dimensional gaming. Virtual boy!!! Yeah, I bet you forgot about that one. I still have mine. It’s amazing, the closest thing to virtual gaming I’ve ever experienced to date and it’s thirteen years old. What about Mario RPG? It was a legitimate three-d game, but on a two-dimensional platform. What I feel is misunderstood here, is Nintendo. They don’t ever claim to be the most performance enhanced gaming system; it’s just that they were pretty much the only one around. What they are amazingly successful at though, is making the user interact with the game; become one with the system. The WII is a prime example of how they’ve tried to move into the future with interactive gaming. Yeah, the graphics suck, but the interactivity is new and fresh; a bold jump in the right direction. That’s what gamers want, no? Virtual reality? Do you see Sony or Microsoft doing that? No, they rely on third party games and realistic graphics. Xbox is cool….yeah, I mean they have Halo. Whoa, like the only game solely unique to XBOX that could ever make a top 20 list. Sony doesn’t even really make any games worthy of a top 100 list (maybe some sports titles or Crash Bandicoot). So what’s left? Nintendo’s genius; completely, utter genius.
    Look, if you take a peek at any top ten lists for games of all time, you’ll see many have a Nintendo game as its number 1. You’ll also notice that, even if Nintendo doesn’t have the number one game, it has at least three or four other games in the top ten of ANY list. This is the magnificence of Nintendo. They are a collection of genius filled masterminds that have pretty much created the gaming industry. That in itself gives them every right to fuck up once in a while and do something stupid (or so seeming that way at the time).
    Don’t be too harsh on them and know they won’t fail; they can’t. They’re Nintendo. They created the most lovable characters of all time; Mario, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi. They don’t have documentaries about the master of the original Halo arcade game. Mario isn’t the greatest game of all time for no reason (any of the dozen or so different platforms that came out). Duck hunt WAS the first light gun game, that started a revolution of interactivity unparalleled by any other system. Nintendo has always been… ‘on their game.’ And…they always will be. Xbox is like the ignorant newbie that came in and just wanted a piece of the pie (hence why they’re the only assholes charging fees to play online). Sony is amazing at what they do, but they’re actual games aren’t a very good follow-up. So keep in mind, whenever you think of Nintendo, they are the games that made you believe in alternate worlds where eating mushrooms did more than make you hallucinate; they made you super-human and able to capture a promiscuous princess in need of some Italian rescuing. Ask yourself this: ‘what game gives you the most enjoyment to play?’

    …and I bet it’ll be a Nintendo game. Through all the modern gaming technology, I still have more repetitive fun playing Donkey Kong Country or Super Mario World than I could ever have playing Street Fighter IV once through (God I wish they would imprison the individual who decided on that intro song).

  14. zma1013 says:

    Bitter much?

    Anyways, the graphical jump between the N64 and the Gamecube was huge. Not sure where you’re getting the idea that it wasn’t. The Gamecube had one of the best looking games of last-generation… AT LAUNCH. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2. Not to mention that later on it had many, many more great looking games. On a graphical level, it was on the same level as the PS2 and the Xbox.

  15. zma1013 says:

    Bitter much?

    Anyways, the graphical jump between the N64 and the Gamecube was huge. Not sure where you’re getting the idea that it wasn’t. The Gamecube had one of the best looking games of last-generation… AT LAUNCH. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2. Not to mention that later on it had many, many more great looking games. On a graphical level, it was on the same level as the PS2 and the Xbox.

  16. EI8HTB1T says:

    This essay, despite it’s lack of coherent argument or any kind of focus, touches on an interesting discussion.

    I too am from the same generation of Nintendo fanboys whose nostalgia for what the 8-bit and 16-bit Nintendo era represented outweighs any semblance of true brand loyalty.

    However, in saying that Nintendo has turned it’s back on it’s first generation of loyalists over the past 2 decades is completely missing the point and conveniently ignoring the reality of the videogame industry as a living, growing, and thriving business sector.

    Here is what actually happened and what a lot of people don’t want to admit; We turned our backs on Nintendo. We all grew up and Nintendo has continued to do what it always has (Don’t belive me? Just take a look at any old photo of yourself in gradeschool, look at what you’re wearing and try to remember how cool you thought it was). We should be grateful because the day Nintendo stops doing what it has always done is the day that videogames die. They represent the very soul of videogames.

    Let’s not forget that until Nintendo released the NES in 1983 (1985 in the US) along with Super Mario Bros in the first place, videogames were on the verge of extinction and Nintendo single-handedly re-invented the home console videogame market as we know it today.

    Just because we all outgrew Nintendo’s mission of family-friendly entertainment (don’t fool yourself, this has always been Nintendo’s mandate since day 1) does not lessen the importance of the influence Nintendo has on new and upcoming generations of videogame enthusiasts. This is what sustains the industry for the future. What’s more is that Nintendo has made leaps and bounds to grow the market to reach females and older generations, this kind of thinking evolves the industry and can only make it better, more diverse, and even more sustainable for the future. The most important effect in all of this is that without Nintendo specifically catering to these audiences there would not be the void for hardcore gamers (which most of us have grown into thanks to our budding young Nintendo glory days) to compete against and create an overwhelming market for XBOX360 and PLAYSTATION3, forcing developers to remain honest and drive top quality content.

    None of us will ever experience that first time we played super mario bros. again, those days have past and blaming Nintendo for coming to this realization isn’t fair. It’s time to look ahead to the bright future videogames have and to keep supporting the creators of the videogame phenomena we owe some of our fondest childhood memories to.

    Long Live Nintendo! Long Live Videogames!

  17. EI8HTB1T says:

    This essay, despite it’s lack of coherent argument or any kind of focus, touches on an interesting discussion.

    I too am from the same generation of Nintendo fanboys whose nostalgia for what the 8-bit and 16-bit Nintendo era represented outweighs any semblance of true brand loyalty.

    However, in saying that Nintendo has turned it’s back on it’s first generation of loyalists over the past 2 decades is completely missing the point and conveniently ignoring the reality of the videogame industry as a living, growing, and thriving business sector.

    Here is what actually happened and what a lot of people don’t want to admit; We turned our backs on Nintendo. We all grew up and Nintendo has continued to do what it always has (Don’t belive me? Just take a look at any old photo of yourself in gradeschool, look at what you’re wearing and try to remember how cool you thought it was). We should be grateful because the day Nintendo stops doing what it has always done is the day that videogames die. They represent the very soul of videogames.

    Let’s not forget that until Nintendo released the NES in 1983 (1985 in the US) along with Super Mario Bros in the first place, videogames were on the verge of extinction and Nintendo single-handedly re-invented the home console videogame market as we know it today.

    Just because we all outgrew Nintendo’s mission of family-friendly entertainment (don’t fool yourself, this has always been Nintendo’s mandate since day 1) does not lessen the importance of the influence Nintendo has on new and upcoming generations of videogame enthusiasts. This is what sustains the industry for the future. What’s more is that Nintendo has made leaps and bounds to grow the market to reach females and older generations, this kind of thinking evolves the industry and can only make it better, more diverse, and even more sustainable for the future. The most important effect in all of this is that without Nintendo specifically catering to these audiences there would not be the void for hardcore gamers (which most of us have grown into thanks to our budding young Nintendo glory days) to compete against and create an overwhelming market for XBOX360 and PLAYSTATION3, forcing developers to remain honest and drive top quality content.

    None of us will ever experience that first time we played super mario bros. again, those days have past and blaming Nintendo for coming to this realization isn’t fair. It’s time to look ahead to the bright future videogames have and to keep supporting the creators of the videogame phenomena we owe some of our fondest childhood memories to.

    Long Live Nintendo! Long Live Videogames!

  18. turdburgler says:

    Man, I know how you feel. I used to love watching Sesame Street when I was younger. But now that I’m grown up, they turned it into a damn kid’s show! They failed my generation so hard.

  19. turdburgler says:

    Man, I know how you feel. I used to love watching Sesame Street when I was younger. But now that I’m grown up, they turned it into a damn kid’s show! They failed my generation so hard.

  20. bisp says:

    You’re pretty dumb.

  21. bisp says:

    You’re pretty dumb.

  22. Tom says:

    I wholeheartedly agree. I too am a die hard Nintendo Fan, and whether I’m just maturing past their target audience or they have lost their touch I cannot say. All I can say, is that every new game that I want to play, doesn’t come out for the Gamecube or the Wii.

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